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by lemon_and_chai



Series: Nekomin [1]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, Neko-fetish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 10:08:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1262332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemon_and_chai/pseuds/lemon_and_chai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fuji gets adopted. (Happy Birthday Syuusuke!)</p>
            </blockquote>





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**Author's Note:**

  * For [neumegami](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neumegami/gifts).



> This AU one-shot is a special Thank You fic written for neumegami33.

Tezuka followed the caretaker in measured steps, the tap of their dress shoes breaking the cold silence that had ensued the moment the hallway light flicked on. 

This hall looked identical to the first one they’d gone through, but at least the nekomin here were much older. Tezuka realized he should have made it clear from the beginning he wasn’t interested in any nekomin under the age of twelve.

The caretaker had acted very understanding. “Of course, sir, all of those here are perfectly trained in the appropriate mannerisms and behaviors. You won’t hear a peep from any of them.” As if to punctuate his statement, he gave a sharp glare towards one particular nekomin they passed, a redhead with a bandage on his cheek, who puffed out his cheeks then slumped back deeper into his cell. 

Each cell was about five by ten feet, Tezuka guessed, with thick bars crossing the front. He could see a door in the back, so he guessed this area was only for daily viewing. _Like a showcase,_ he thought, pausing to look more closely at a curly black haired one. It looked at him with an angry glare, then made a hissing noise at the caretaker before scampering back towards its cell’s door.

In the previous hallway, the young nekomin had all been far more vocal, some crying, some making little noises like meowing at him, and some had said what was clearly human words, or even partial sentences. The caretaker had taken notes on his tablet, and assured Tezuka that any nekomin who spoke would be well reprimanded at a later time.

As promised, these older ones made nothing but cat-like noises, or stayed completely silent. 

Tezuka still couldn’t quite fathom why they weren’t considered part human. They looked entirely human to him, other than the large pair of cat ears that rose up amongst the hair on their heads, obviously natural compared to the imitation accessories he’d seen schoolgirls wear, and the long, sweeping tails that curled around their waists and legs. 

Most were wearing a white, simple dress that had been especially fashioned for them. It might as well have been an oversized shirt, for how it hardly covered any part of their legs. A few had torn theirs off and went with pure nature, showing that other than their lower backs, thick with fur and the protruding tail, they really did look entirely human.

Tezuka was glad he’d specified only males. Through years of friendship with Atobe Keigo, he’d finally come to terms with his preferences.

He stopped at the end of the row, after passing a couple empty cells. There was one last occupied one, its inhabiting nekomin turning towards him slowly, as if it hadn’t expected him to make it so far down the row. 

The nekomin was sitting with his legs tucked up, back facing the bars, but he was still close enough to reach out and touch one lightly with his fingers, much closer than the other nekomin had been. Wide, startlingly blue eyes looked up to meet his; light brown locks fell around his round, pale face, and also around his ears, which were a soft, snow white color, slightly fuzzier than most of the others, and matched his equally white tail, which curled lazily around him in a half circle.

Hazel eyes stared at blue, and locked that way for what felt like a few full minutes. Then finally, the nekomin looked away, his eyelids drooping half shut, the end of his tail swished and twitched back and forth, crystalline eyes glowing as if he were thinking of something. After several minutes, he finally turned away, just as slowly as he’d first turned towards Tezuka, and buried his head between his knees.

“I want this one.” The words tumbled unbidden from Tezuka’s lips, startling even the caretaker, who’d been quietly entering notes into his tablet. 

The nekomin looked startled as well. His head turned back rapidly, his blue eyes grew wide and trembled in their sockets, and he twisted out of his relaxed posture and almost stood up, but then seemed to think better of it and dropped onto his hands and knees instead, facing the front of the cell but crawling a few cautious steps backwards. 

_At least he’s well trained,_ Tezuka thought, _or maybe he’s just behaving carefully in front of the caretaker._ The bespectacled lawyer hadn’t failed to notice how obviously scared the nekomin were upon seeing the business suited manager, and how many of them, like this one, started off making one, very human like movement, then quickly reverted to something more animalistic. 

“Oh, this one?” The caretaker smiled, his lips stretched wide and thin so that he looked like a fox, happy to make a sale. “Ah, yes, as expected of one of Atobe-sama’s dear acquaintances. You know how to pick the exclusive ones.”

Frowning, Tezuka looked back at the white eared nekomin, who was now sitting almost seiza style with his hands laid perfectly on his lap. The blue of his eyes disappeared as lips pulled upward into a small, tight smile, causing his lids to crinkle upwards and hide those captivating irises. His ears and tail twitched nervously, giving him away; otherwise his mannerisms were pristine.

“What’s exclusive?” Tezuka asked without actually looking at the caretaker, his eyes glued to the nekomin.

“This variety of nekomin is called Fuji, because of their white ears, and straight brown hair,” the caretaker explained. “Like the mountain, you see? It’s difficult to breed so it’s rather rare, and in addition to that, this particular one is already fourteen, and still a certified virgin - I assure you. He was raised as part of a private collection, and only brought to our establishment recently.”

“If he’s so rare, why is he still here?” Tezuka cautiously inquired. He knew nekomin fanatics received a catalog featuring special arrivals, so there was no way this one was merely overlooked. 

“Price,” the caretaker rubbed together his hands. “But you needn’t worry, of course. He’s covered completely by the gift card from your friend, including the full package of amenities we provide for new owners.”

Tezuka had no doubt that whatever Atobe had given him - “to get the stick out of his ass,” as the diva had put it - it would probably cover two rare nekomin if he really wanted them. He still couldn’t believe he was doing this. Taking on a pet was a big enough responsibility, and it was said having a nekomin was like having a child, one who was already potty trained and didn’t throw tantrums, but would always _be_ a child, completely dependent on its owner for the rest of its life. 

But Tezuka had just turned thirty, and his last relationship with a woman back in college had ensured his life-long bachelorhood. Having a pet, he supposed, would be some way for him to deal with the half-empty penthouse he could now afford thanks to his successful position as Atobe Corps’ head attorney. And a nekomin was intelligent enough that with the right training, they were guaranteed to have perfect behavior that could never come from an animal. Animals could not understand logic, or explanations, or reasoning, as nekomin could.

And Tezuka would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he was interested in the sexual aspect of a nekomin’s companionship. He was tired of being alone. 

_They celebrated their birthdays together on Atobe’s yacht - well, it was really a second party for Atobe, and Tezuka had refused one for himself, so this was really Atobe’s idea of a compromise._

_Tezuka had been shocked by the diva’s gift; he worked for many men wealthy enough to own a nekomin, even multiple nekomin, so he knew that a card covering the purchase of one and whatever else he’d need to go with it would possibly match six months of his salary._

_But Atobe insisted, and all of their friends and coworkers - Atobe’s friends, really, they were in another class than Tezuka on the basis of wealth alone - thought it was the perfect present. They’d begun a lively, and slightly too graphic discussion on nekomin, mostly bragging about their own, telling Tezuka all the benefits and all their complaints, all at the same time._

_“Really, it’s unfair. Nekomin have such easy lives,” Atobe sighed dramatically, waving his hand at his own nekomin, Ryouma, who was curled up sleeping on a couch, black ears twitching as he dreamed. “All they do is sleep, eat, and have sex. They have no worries or responsibilities.”_

Tezuka wondered if it was true. In that first unveiling moment, the Fuji nekomin looked so sad, so lonely, as if his heart would break the moment Tezuka walked past, leaving him to sit silently in that cell, hoping that some other rich owner or rich owner’s friend would come by and claim him.

 _Or maybe it’s not even that,_ Tezuka thought. _Anyone would be sad, locked in a cage for no reason... bound for only another cage, even if he’s sold._

“... Does he have a name?”

“Whatever name you chose, of course,” the caretaker’s smile was almost sly, his salesman aura at full blast. He tapped his tablet, impatient to make his top end sale.

“But he must have been called something for fourteen years,” Tezuka murmured. The nekomin’s eyes opened wide for barely a second; his lips, small and pink, parted just slightly, then sealed themselves along with his eyes back into a tight, controlled expression.

“Better not to allow any past attachments,” the caretaker replied, his tone slightly haughty, as if his nose pointed up at having to explain such things to a beginner. “You have, of course, read the owner’s manual - purchasing an older nekomin requires special attention to their psychological training.”

“Of course,” Tezuka sternly replied, in a tone so assured that the caretaker sealed his lips for a moment as if afraid to insult his client any further.

The bespectacled lawyer stood cross armed for several minutes, his expression spooled into his infamous Spartan-like frown. The caretaker finally realized that Tezuka wasn’t interested in leaving his new acquisition, so he tapped a few things on his tablet and said, “I’ll go and bring you the paperwork to fill out here.”

Tezuka nodded, but he didn’t move an inch until the caretaker had left the hall, and the tap of his dress shoes couldn’t be heard.

Then he knelt down, his expression and posture relaxing as he reached between the bars. A fearful tremble swept through the Fuji nekomin, but he seemed to swallow his hesitation and crawled forward, holding his head forward for Tezuka to pet. 

The lawyer carefully reached forward and gently touched the Fuji’s ear, which was just as soft as it looked, then slowly slid his fingers through those clean brown locks, then down the nekomin’s shoulder and arm, moving even more slowly, until finally he held the nekomin’s hand, giving it a loose handshake of greeting.

“Your name?” Tezuka spoke quietly, and waited patiently as the nekomin’s eyes darted nervously left and right, along with his tail.

“Syuusuke,” he finally whispered, in a tone so soft and light he could have been a ghost.

“Tezuka Kunimitsu,” the lawyer smiled, just slightly, as much as he ever did, but he could feel Syuusuke’s hand relax in his. “I’ll only sign if you want to go home with me. Do you?”

After a moment, the nekomin nodded, just barely, so slightly that he might have just been shifting his hair. A small, finally genuine smile appeared on his lips, and he looked up at Tezuka with those shimmering blue, half-lidded eyes.

Even without words, Tezuka could hear what he had to say.

_Take me home._

* * *

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> In case it isn’t clear - a nekomin is a human-like pet, with cat genetics. It looks like a normal human, but has a cat’s ears and tail. Some people think of them as half-human, half-cat, but according to their legal status, they have no human classification, as they have no rights or privileges associated with humans. They are pets, only, and in some ways, less than pets, because it is legal to purchase and own a nekomin purely for sexual activity, something that is illegal with animals. Nekomin are thus neither humanoid, nor animal: they are living property.
> 
> The concept of Nekomin is something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, and have hashed out something of a long AU about. This drabble, though, doesn’t fit into that story at all - it’s more like, an AU of the Nekomin AU. ^^;; I have this huge epic (and utterly wrong) story all in my head, but I'll probably never write it. *laugh* On top of the fact that it would be full of non-con and other dark dark themes and fetishes.
> 
> ~
> 
> Wonderful fanart for this fic, ["Take me Home"](http://umihoshi.deviantart.com/art/Take-me-Home-566087409) by UmiHoshi =~.~= Thank you so much!
> 
> I have another fanart for the nekomin concept by Logic and Feels but am saving it for the main fic. =^__^= I love you all <3


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